SNS REAAL 
By SNS Bank N.V. (SNS Bank), the banking activities of SNS REAAL, was subject to the 2011 EU-wide stress test conducted by the European Banking Authority (EBA), in cooperation with the Dutch Central Bank (DNB), the European Central Bank (ECB), the European Commission (EC) and the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB).
SNS Bank notes the announcements made today by the EBA and the DNB on the EU-wide stress test and fully acknowledges the outcomes of this exercise.
The EU-wide stress test, carried out across 90 banks, including four banks from the Netherlands, covering over 65% of the EU banking system total assets, seeks to assess the resilience of European banks to severe shocks and their specific solvency to hypothetical stress events under certain restrictive conditions.
The scenarios, methodology and key assumptions of the EU-wide stress test were established to assess banks’ capital adequacy against a 5% Core Tier 1 capital benchmark and are intended to restore confidence in the resilience of the banks tested. The predefined baseline and adverse stress test scenarios were set by the ECB and cover a two-year time horizon (2011-2012). The outcomes of the stress test reflect the predefined baseline and adverse stress test scenario and are not forecasts of SNS Bank financial performance including its capital ratios.
The stress test has been carried out using a static balance sheet assumption as at December 2010, in the case of SNS Bank taking into account the repositioning and run-off of the Property Finance portfolio announced in November 2010.
As a result of the assumed baseline scenario, the estimated consolidated Core Tier 1 capital ratio of SNS Bank would change to 10.6% in 2012 compared to 8.4% as of end of 2010. As a result of the assumed shock under the adverse scenario, the estimated consolidated Core Tier 1 capital ratio would change to 7.0% in 2012 compared to 8.4% as of end of 2010. Especially in the adverse
scenario, the prescribed commercial real estate assumptions would negatively impact the impairments at Property Finance (run-off segment) and, therefore, SNS Bank’s net income and, consequently, its Core Tier 1 capital ratio. Driven by the prescribed methodology and assumptions, the stress test
results of SNS Bank do not take into account nor reflect any future releases from the capital release plan which was announced in November 2010 (and increased in February 2011). Nor do they reflect other potential mitigating management actions.
The detailed results of the stress test under the baseline and adverse scenarios as well as information on SNS Bank credit exposures and exposures to central and local governments are provided in the accompanying disclosure tables based on the common format provided by the EBA. SNS Bank’s exposure to peripheral European sovereigns, which was € 1.0 billion at year end 2010, has been reduced markedly since then.
About SNS REAAL
SNS REAAL is an innovative service provider in the banking and insurance sector with a prime focus on the Dutch retail market and on small and medium-sized enterprises. Its activities cover three main product groups: mortgages and property finance, savings and investments and insurance. From its historical background, SNS REAAL has always felt close to Dutch society. With a balance sheet total of nearly € 128 billion (end of 2010), SNS REAAL isone of the major financial bancassurance companies in the Netherlands. The company has a staff of approximately 7,100 (FTE) and is headquartered in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Disclaimer
The stress test was carried out based on the EBA common methodology and key common simplifying assumptions (e.g. constant balance sheet, uniform treatment of securitisation exposures) as published in the EBA Methodological note. Therefore, the information relative to the scenarios is provided only
for comparison purposes. The scenarios should not in any way be construed as a bank's forecast or
directly compared to other published information of SNS Bank N.V. and/or SNS REAAL N.V. and/or their group companies.
See more details on the scenarios, assumptions and methodology on the EBA website:
http://www.eba.europa.eu/EU-wide-stress-testing/2011.aspx
In the interpretation of the outcome of the exercise, it is imperative to differentiate between the results obtained under the different scenarios developed for the purposes of the EU-wide exercise. The results of the adverse scenario should not be considered as representative of the current situation or possible present capital needs. A stress testing exercise does not provide forecasts of expected outcomes since the adverse scenarios are designed as ‘what-if” scenarios including plausible but extreme assumptions, which are therefore not very likely to materialise. Different stresses may produce different outcomes depending on the circumstances of each institutions.
This press release contains only factual information and should not be regarded as an opinion or recommendation concerning the purchase or sale of securities issued by SNS Bank N.V. or of shares or other securities issued by SNS REAAL N.V. or any of their group companies. This press release does not contain any value judgement or predictions with respect to the financial performance of SNS Bank N.V. or SNS REAAL N.V. or any of their group companies.
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For more information please contact
SNS REAAL Corporate Communications
Roelina Bolding corporatecommunications@snsreaal.nl Mobile phone: +31 (0)6 22 60 71 87
SNS REAAL Investor Relations
Jacob Bosscha jacob.bosscha@snsreaal.nl Tel: +31 (0)30 291 42 46
Victor Zijlema victor.zijlema@snsreaal.nl Tel: +31 (0)30 291 42 47
